Central College professor of biology Russ Benedict has been selected for the 2024 cohort of Wrigley Institute Storymakers fellows. 

The summer program at the University of Southern California Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability chose Benedict as one of 13 fellows from across the nation. The Storymakers program is a weeklong intensive training for environmental and sustainability researchers in the art of environmental storytelling. Benedict will be stationed at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on South Catalina Island, California. The week-long program in June includes lectures, workshops, studio time for creating original content and networking opportunities. Benedict joined the Central faculty in 2002, is known throughout Iowa as a bat and endangered Iowa species expert. In 2021, he brought his bat expertise to the Discovery Channel’s “Expedition X.” 

Each year, Benedict conducts research with students on prairies and completes prairie management on Central’s Carlson Kuyper Field Station near Knoxville.